Learning to ski

Yesterday and today the weather particularly here in Koliba is so gloomy. The fog is so thick, the city cannot be seen. Next week, the temperature will drop to 0 Celsius and snow has been forecasted on 800-1000m above sea level. Snow, the essence of Christmas and winter.

2010's winter was quite a winter. Deep and long. Being a Filipina, I have no whatsoever grasp of balance which is necessary for skiing. In fact, I never had the dream nor the urge to go skiing. Until one fine winter, another mother in the German Kindergarten has mentioned to me a good beginners school for skiing. It was definitely meant for Adrian. I looked, searched, googled about this not-so-far-away destination of Zochova Chata. Then I called to make Adrian's first lesson. Well, dealing with it in Slovak was big issue but so be it. We did find an Instructress, Michaela Vislocka, very pretty and explains in English very well.

Come that day, the place was full of children. The slopes are definitely meant for beginners and learners. Adrian looked good and was able to ski and break the basic way. Then came the idea, can I learn too? It just fits. I would be driving Adrian anyway to his lessons and so I could combine my lessons with him. He got his private lessons and after him he could go on the slopes and practice then I would be learning.

After 12 private lessons, I have learned the basics of skiing and carving. The slope there was perfect for a scared beginner like me. Of course, I fell! Many times! Adrian took it easily but I am very much into the technical side of skiing, I just couldn't let it go like him. Kids will be kids. And I will be always me. I am so proud of myself to be able to ski even if I am the slowest most careful creature on the slope. There is time for me to improve.

Zochova Chata is some 45 minutes drive from Bratislava. You drive past Pezinok and Modra then enter a hilly, scenic part of the Lower Carpathians. The company runs another ski slope called Pezinok Baba. Check their website at www.lkbaba.sk

Happy skiing!

Rick Steves' Europe | Bustling city of Bratislava is the comeback kid of Europe | Seattle Times Newspaper

Rick Steves' Europe | Bustling city of Bratislava is the comeback kid of Europe | Seattle Times Newspaper

Summer in Bratislava

Ah it is school time again. Summer has passed. Lots of expats would usually go back to their home countries to spend their summer. Some would go take their vacation somewhere else. But what about those who stayed in Bratislava? What is there to do?

I am not able to tell you what is all there in Slovakia for summer due to language problems again. But I could tell you my interests what to show or do with my just turned 6 year old son around the area.

Bibiana Museum - a museum dedicated to children. Not huge but children can touch everything and experience whatever is inside. During summer,there are theater presentations every Sunday.

City Center - at around 5 pm on Sundays there is usually a short concert infront of the Mladost Kino. A real treat while eating ice cream from the next door shop.

Aupark - behind the shopping mall is a big outdoor area with climbing, trampoline, and lots of stuff for the little ones too.

Sandbeach - at the foot of the old bridge on the other side of the Danube is a manmade sand beach. It is well located as it is just beside the playground. Enjoy othe marvelous view of the castle, city, bridges and of course the river.

Tubing - I just live at the lower level of Koliba and still did not manage to experience this but it should be fun.

Aquapark in Senec - huge water park some 20 mins drive from Bratislava.

Bergbad in Hainburg, Austria - the cheaper alternative to the Aquapark but drinks and food could be more pricey.

Family Park in St Margarethen - an hour drive away from Bratislava, enjoy the scenery of the villages you pass by on you way to this fairytale attraction. Lots of rides, animals, flowing water for the kids to play with, etc. We got the season ticket which is almost equal to three entrances.

Schlosshof - see how the aristocrats lived before. Different events throughout the year. Just 30 minute drive away.



Schonbrunn Museum in Vienna - has a children's museum as well. Guided tours for kids at certain times.

Carnuntum - see the Roman ruins in Austria. Just half an hour drive.


I am sure this is not enough to spend the whole summer in Bratislava but there are lakes, rivers and other places to visit too. As for us we were gone the whole of August and that is another story to tell.

Hope you had a

Happy Summer!

A quiet Thursday

Thursday is my favored day. And today is even more special. After hitting some balls with mild temperatures and on red clay, I rush home. For what? Then it hit me. I am so alone. My neighbors are not there. My kid is not here. My husband is away.

So I prepare my second breakfast of rice and some pork cooked in fresh tomatoes. I sit on the terrace looking at the castle and couldn’t just believe my luck. Then I sip my coffee and I think of Pedrito’s in Dagupan City. It is where we always eat breakfast after grueling tennis games on Lyceum’s courts. Oh how I devoured those times. Thinking of the chores I have to do today, I said why not jump into the pool? I get my bikini, dip in the pool, float, closed my eyes and enjoyed silence. It feels like I own Koliba.

The sun is friendly today, not too hot and the wind is also an ally. I sunbath my already tanned skin but what the heck. Sunbath and sleep . I go into the pool again and decided, today is actually a very lucky day.

Happy Thursday!

Watching TV

After six months of stay here, we have not chosen if we will get a cable or satellite TV connection. So far our movies are regularly provided by a friend who has wall-load of DVDs. Until tennis season on clay came, i.e., Roland Garros in May, I need to act on what to get.

To explain our preferences I have to present to you our family. We are a mixed culture marriage, (German and Filipina plus strong inclination to Latin America as our son was born by choice in Argentina). My husband is happy to live with having a BBC Channel. I need the movies channel and definitely they should be in English plus a sports channel. My son goes to the German School but nevertheless would prefer having his cartoons in English. Quite complicated, huh! But in summation we would like to have a great choice of English Channels.

So the search starts and there are several options.

UPC
T-com Magio and Cable
Orange

If you go to their websites, thanks to Google Translate of Google Chrome one can understand their offers. I will not elaborate on what I found about each of them. As I have been in a furnished flat for a month with cable what I can say is that there was BBC, one or two cartoon channels, AXN, HBO etc. And apart from BBC and CNN everything is in Slovak, some in Czech. I know that T-com offers channels in Hungarian too. One time I went personally to T-com to ask them if during installation they can install the HBO, Cinemax etc in English. They can not. However, in their website they claim that one can watch these channels in different languages. How true? I did not risk it. Why should I subscribe to cable or satellite TV if I can not watch any of them apart from some channels which is not even interesting to us?

Other choice is your own satellite. We actually have two dishes in the house. Just need a receiver. Some said to be able to watch movies from your own country, you could also apply for the local satellite provider. Bring the card here, call a technician and voila, you are with the channels of your own country, in your own language. But of course you need to pay this in your home country but that could be arranged.

And came Roland Garros Tennis Open.....time is running out. Before this I watched the tennis matches on live stream. I was ok with this because there are lots of options of matches one can watch. My husband connected the PC also to the TV so I got a big screen. Until one day my lifesaver, a friend who is leaving gave me an old receiver of his. The receiver is already programmed to receive most German channels. My husband has his BBC, my son has cartoons in German and I have Eurosport. I have not solved the problem with the movies of HBO and Cinemax but our friend is here to lend me movies until July. Until then I can live with that as Wimbledon is still coming.

Happy watching!

Six Month Glitch

Wikipedia: A glitch is a usually short-lived fault in a system.

I started writing this end of May and it is very true for me everytime we move to a new country. The glitch is a sadness and emptiness I feel at this point of time. It happens when you have rented your house, your container arrived, found the school for your child, got your car and now what???? Yes the very big question of now what?

I have been attending once a week Slovak language course, I have been playing tennis, I have my routine, I know which supermarket I wanna go, I go to Mah-jong, I love my house, etcetera, etcetera.

And my glitch pertains to having FRIENDS! A friend whom you can just talk to about whatever, whose door you knock on whichever time of the day, and just meet without any diary appointment. And at this very same time I made friends with Simmi. An Indian girl who is so open to whatever we want to do together. I just love her. Plus her gorgeous daughter and the never-late and never-be-late husband. Plus summer was finally greeting us that we could invite friends for a swim and eat a non-formal dinner.

And this is the end of my sixth month glitch as after I feel it, life definitely starts rolling fast, so fast it is now end July in which I got so busy to be able to finish this post.

Happy summer!

Fleamarket for Children Stuff at the German School (text in German)

The flea market takes place on 23 04.2010, from 15:00 bis 17:00 clock in the schoolyard and in the gymnasium of the DSB (in bad weather only gym). We sell children's books, toys, sporting goods, CDs, tapes and other media. This year can also be sold clothing. For the reservation again, the cake donations will be accepted for the buffet. In the buffet cakes, drinks and coffee are sold, the money will go towards the expansion of the school yard of the DSB. As part of the yard sale accepted will be children things as donation for children in Malacky.



Flohmarkt an der DSB am 23. April von 15.00 bis 17.00 Uhr

Der Flohmarkt findet statt am 23. 04.2010, von 15:00 bis 17:00 Uhr im Schulhof und in der Turnhalle der DSB (beim schlechtem Wetter nur Turnhalle). Es werden Kinderbücher, Spielzeug, Sportartikel, CD, Kassetten und andere Medien verkauft. Dieses Jahr kann auch Bekleidung verkauft werden. Für die Reservierung werden wieder die Kuchenspenden für das Buffet entgegengenommen. Im Buffet werden Kuchen, Getränke und Kaffee verkauft, das Geld kommt der Erweiterung des Schulhofs der DSB zugute. Im Rahmen des Flohmarkts wird wieder eine Kindersachen-Sammlung für Kinderheim in Malacky stattfinden

Fever

Normally when my son gets fever, I would always wait for a few days to see what is happening. It usually is afterall a middle ear infection in which it cures itself in time. Some two weeks ago on a Friday , I was called by the Kindergarten that Adrian has a slight fever. After buying some homeophatic medicines, I brought him home and he spent the whole day and night sleeping. Saturday he was still feverish and weak, Sunday a bit better. Monday I still let him stay home. Come Tuesday I left him in Kindergarten for a few hours. On Wednesday he stayed a bit longer. The sun shone marvelously on Thursday and of course the entire kindergarten made use of this letting the kids play in the playground for longer period of time. However at night Adrian has a recurring fever that I needed to bring him the next day to the doctor.

The doctor I was recommended does not hold clinics on Friday and so I went to the next recommended one. It is Medifera. Finding their phone number at their webpage, I called them three times connecting me to an english speaking person. This is however a recording and after waiting and waiting for two hours that they call me back, I tried my luck just having myself directly connected to the slovak speaking line. Finally that was the trick. Someone will definitely speak some English there. Thankfully I was scheduled in 30 minutes. When we arrived, there was not a long waiting time. Adrian was checked physically, then his blood and urine were taken for tests. Unfortunately there was protein present in his urine and the doctor ordered me to go to the Children's Hospital in Kramare to get an ultrasound of his kidneys.

So off we drove. Upon reaching registration, no one spoke English and we were just given instructions to wait for Room 9. So instead of being brought to the ultrasound department we were told to go again see a doctor. Doctor is out at the moment. Every patient comes curious not knowing what is happening. Are we falling in line? Then of course we are anxious that the staff inside would see us and have us rightfully in line. Now this is the start of my dilemna. We waited 2 hours before my son was attended to. And the most painful thing was one sees all the patients go one by one and we were even there before them. But I did understand that some cases were an emergency. Thanks to their cartoon movies my son waited patiently but not me. As our turn came, I was literally shouted at and thrown out of the clinic by an elder doctor because I do not understand Slovak. I could not stop my tears from falling. I was then assured that the doctor who speaks slovak would soon be there to attend to Adrian.

After all the frustrations of this experience, I finally on the following week managed to make an appointment with Dr Dagmar Kollarova. A very good doctor who speaks English. And when I asked her about her clinic situated in the same hospital where I waited, she explained that she rents those premises and therefore holds her clinic there and could use the hospital services too. Once she brought me for where the ultrasound was and explained too that by registering, one is automatically in the list and one just has to WAIT for one's turn.

Now whenever I have doubts about Adrian's health, I can peacefully rely on Dr Kollarova. Her website is Kollarova.sk

This time I do not wish you

happy waiting!

Internet Banking

 

One day my husband arrived home and gave me a file with lots of papers and a small calculator-looking gadget. This gadget seems familiar to me as I had one similar when we were in Indonesia. I never got to use it. Have a guess why? Never understood it, never learned how to use it. Yes…it boils down to language problems. So I told my husband, oh I am never gonna use that coz I don't know what to do with it. A day later he told me I rather check how to use it because otherwise I would be going to the banks paying our bills. And imagine the line…..Huh but we only have T-com to pay, right? So I can manage that. End.

 

Then sometime I received from him a phone call informing me that our new car could now be picked up. BUT… the insurance must be paid first before we could drive it. And got to hurry because parking in the center costs a lot. Ah what to do? We live in Koliba and taking the bus and going to the bank is a two hour ordeal. He suggests to pay via the internet. Voila!

 

I open Tatra Bank's webpage and fortunately find an English version. I click on Internet Banking and the page asks me for a PID. I rummage through the 20 pages or so papers what that could be. I found it easily. Then it asked for Password. I assume that it is that code written on the same paper stating HESLO. I give it in. Nope. I give it again. Nope. Where the hell is that password? Until I find an closed envelope. I open it finding some 20 number and letter combination. Ah this must be the password. That paper with the PID and Heslo and other things ticked is the check list which they have given my husband. Aha. I am one step closer. Or so I think.

 

Then the webpage asks me for a Code. AGAIN? Please……Where do I get that code in which I should enter it without spaces? I probably need to use that calculator looking device now. I enter the card into the slot and it could actually "express" itself in English and then it asks me again of something. Have a guess! Right another PIN. Because I give in numbers again and again and it doesn't recognize it, I gave it up.

 

I call the bank. My time is running out to pay that insurance. I wait and wait and call again and nobody calls me back. I call my husband and tell him my frustration. Oh he says, why don't you try this number? So I did and it worked finally giving some numbers I could enter. Probably the code they were asking for. Now doing the transfer. I am asked to enter a number prefix of the account which I didn't find at all. It just never stops. Fortunately the bank calls me. Someone who could explain me everything after hours of trying to figure out how this should work out. In short, in order to enter you account via internet banking you must enter a code generated from the card reader. To attain this, you must enter your ATM pin. If making a payment via internet banking, then you should fill up the form and at the end you will be asked again for another code. If in the card reader you just ask a code, it will not match and the transfer of payment is not successful. Therefore, when making payments, press in the card reader payment/platba, enter the amount rounded up (without cents), enter bank account, enter variable number if asked, at the end a code will show up matching to the payment you have entered via internet banking. Then it is successful.

 

After understanding all of these, it all seems easy to do internet banking. Well, at the very beginning, everything would have been easy anyway if all was written in English.

 

Happy banking!

Getting Lost

Today I had to bring my husband and son to the old theater. As I had to wait some two hours I needed to find a parking spot. This is terrible in the city so driving around not wanting to be so far from the theater was not so successful and I ended up parking on the other side of the Danube river, just below the old bridge.

The parking was spacious and promised me a wonderful walk along the river. I started looking on the old city side and screened the UFO bridge, the Bratislava Castle, the St. Martin Church, the old bridge and the new Apollo Bridge. As I trot along the riverbank, a different kind of children's playground welcomed me. Very colorful, it even offers a kind of hanging line for children. They hold a rope and it lets them end up using their own weight to the other side and back. I was so happy to find this and bring the good news to Adrian that I would be bringing him here soon during summer.

Then a boat hotel was just parked and loudly presenting itself in its way by being orange. How could it escape me as my favorite color is orange. As people walk their children or dogs, or just on their inline skates or bicycles, I couldn't help admiring this park so clean and silent. Until I reached Aucafe, ostentibly expensive but after checking their webpage www.au-cafe.sk it is after all not. One can sit on their terrace to admire a view on the castle and the old city charm, the river flowing before it.

Higher up is the Leberfinger restaurant, a name in itself serving excellent Schnitzel. We ate here after the theater but only after driving some 20 minutes to find it because getting there could be quite scientific with a car. Walking could have been easier for us. I ordered the Carpaccio which was chewy and not cold enough. I gave myself assurance that my grilled spareribs would be better. Well, I envy my husband who always orders perfectly. Meaning, his food is always the better one than mine. In short try to order the restaurants famous for and you'd never go wrong. They have, by the way, a children's corner at the cellar, offering white board in which our Adrian took time to draw all his imaginative airplanes and rockets. www.leberfinger.sk

On this side of the river I conclude it with crossing the Novy Most (New Bridge), formerly called the SNP Bridge, symbolizing the Slovak National Uprising. On top of the bridge is the flying-saucer shaped structure, thus, UFO. It has a cafe and offers such wonderful views over the city. Today, however, was cloudy and it was not good to go on top with such weather.

As I reach, the other side of the river, there was no other way to get back to my car than walking further and crossing the old bridge. The old bridge is now only used by passenger buses. But a platform is there for pedestrians. I did get dizzy looking below at the running river.

So as far as getting lost, not technically, but it was just nice to end up somewhere and discover lots of things due to it. If I never got lost, I wouldn't have experienced this part of the river.

Happy getting lost!